A plan B in absence of H-1B visa

UNTIL last week, Supriya Mehta, an international student at the University of California, Berkeley, was happy that her life was headed in the right direction. A senior at college, she had a job offer from a company where she had interned the previous two summers. “I thought I would have to go back to Delhi after graduation. Then I got this job and I was so happy I could stay back and work in the US.” After starting work under the Optional Practical Training (OPT) program, a benefit granted to F-1 student-visa holders that allows them to work in the US for up to three years after graduating, she planned to apply for the H-1B visa. President Donald Trump’s new visa rules, announced last Friday, have thrown a wrench in her plans. The future is, once again, uncertain.

Now, Supriya says, she dreads opening her inbox, certain that a mail rescinding the job offer will come any day. After all, most companies are unlikely to pay the steep $100,000 fee required to apply for an H-1B visa for a fresh graduate.

On September 19, President Trump unveiled new rules for foreigners holding H-1B visas, a visa category that allows highly educated individuals or those with special skills to work legally in the US. A fee of $100,000 would have to be paid by companies for each employee on the visa. The proclamation was met with immediate panic by the sizeable Indian community in the US — out of the 7.3 lakh H-1B visa holders in the US, over 70 per cent are from India. “It’s time to start packing our bags,” was the reaction of a senior IT executive in the Bay Area employed with a Pune-based company.

A clarification from the White House on September 21, that the fee would apply only to fresh H-1B petitions and would not affect current visa holders, was greeted with relief. For the moment at least, it seemed the storm had blown over. However, a realisation of how vulnerable foreign workers are in the US and how a single statement from the President has the potential to upend lives continues to linger in the Indian community.

On Tuesday, the Trump administration added another proposal to the visa rules that seeks to prioritise higher paid and higher skilled international workers in the H-1B lottery system that until now has been random, giving all petitioners an equal chance.

For international students, all these measures have made the prospect of landing a job after graduation extremely remote. At a time when fresh graduates are seeing record levels of unemployment — according to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, the unemployment rate among recent college graduates rose to 5.8 per cent in March 2025, up from 4.6 per cent a year earlier — the outlook for international students hoping to work in the US is even more bleak.

Even before the latest visa rules, it was hard enough to land a job. It is common for job applicants to apply to hundreds of positions and not hear from a single place.

Poonam, a Bay Area-based volunteer educational consultant, shares the case of her nephew, who graduated with a Masters degree in investment banking from Northeastern University in February and has still not found a job. “He has applied to more than 150 positions and not heard back from anywhere,” says Poonam. The 27-year-old is currently living with friends, stuck between a tightening job market and India-based parents who say he shouldn’t consider coming back to India until he gets an H-1B visa. “We worry about him,” says his aunt, “his life has not even started yet.”

Realistically, no company is going to be willing to pay $100,000 to hire fresh graduates. The new lottery system will also make it harder for lower wage entry-level workers to get visas. The OPT, once a ray of hope for international students, especially those in STEM, now appears to be a pipe dream. “No one is hiring OPT anymore,” says Poonam. “No company wants to waste its time training an employee for three years if there is no chance that the person will get an H-1B visa.”

So, is this the end of the American Dream for international students? Not necessarily, says Poonam, “American education is still a worthwhile experience. If one can afford it, it is definitely worth coming to the US for. Just don’t expect to stay here.” This is a sentiment that Mansi, a Panchkula-based mother whose son is studying in an Ivy League university, agrees with. “Even though we are investing a lot in his education, when we started applying to US universities, jobs and H-1B were not a major criteria for us. Our sole aim was getting the best education.”

While some might agree with this approach, most are bound to rethink their educational plans. Given the price of getting a US degree, which can be anything from $200,000 to $400,000 for a four-year degree, the prospect of not being able to work in the US post-degree will likely be a deal breaker for the vast majority of students. “It is time for a plan B for Indians headed to the US,” says Sanjeev, a senior human resources executive.

Supriya speaks with equal parts envy and longing about friends who moved to Germany and Singapore for work. Once the dreaded mail arrives, those are the destinations she plans to set her eyes on. “I am not going to give the best years of my life to a country that doesn’t want me,” she says. “After all, the US isn’t the only option. Germany, UK, South Korea and China have already taken steps to attract talent away from the US.”

For those already enrolled in US universities, it might not be feasible to move to other destinations before graduation. However, some do not plan to bother looking for jobs in light of the new rules. “I am going to cut my losses,” says Subhash, a third-year Computer Science student at San Jose State University. “I will start applying for jobs in Canada and Australia. If I do not get anything by the time I graduate, I will go back to India and work there. My parents have taken a big loan to fund my education and I cannot afford to be unemployed.”

Some, like Anushka, a pre-med student at Michigan State University, have already set the wheels of plan B in motion. Her parents have started the process of moving to Australia, where she plans to join them and enrol in a medical school.

While the American Dream has not died, it has certainly earned itself a hefty price tag, both in dollar terms and in terms of peace of mind. It still remains to be seen how many will be willing, or are even able, to bear the cost.

— The writer is a freelance contributor based in San Jose, USA